[azaz]

I said before that for some reason American Publisher's like books that are simple and with happy ending, as they think that is what the US costomer's want.

Steven Erikson was answering fan questions over at malazanempire.com, and one of the questions that was asked was why it was so hard to get hold of his books in the US?

Answer:
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US publishers have yet to bite on the series. It's been called 'too complicated,' which my American friends find somewhat insulting. Has to do with perceived markets, and thus far US editors don't perceive one, not in any desperate way, in any case. Personally, I can be patient. It'll come eventually. In the meantime, there's always amazon.co.uk.
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What do you guys think to this? I thought the US would have wanted complex stories after the sucess of ASoIaF series.

[James Barclay]

I'm sure they do but there's plenty of evidence that they'd rather find US authors first despite having ready made and demonstrably successful fantasy from UK and Canadian authors to name but two other territories.

Steve Erikson is right, though. It's a question of patience as it is for many non US authors doing other than the percieved US 'ideal'.

It's probable that many US editors haven't caught up with the moving trend in their readership.

What forums like this do is alert those same editors to the breadth of fantasy that US readers want. So, everyone, keep on talking!

[Hobbit]

Similar comments have been made by James Barclay about trying to sell books in the US(which I stuck in a thread somewhere round here)... http://www.sffworld.com/ubb/biggrin.gif

Hobbit

[Cadfael]

This is something I never thought of until I started to use the forum. Publishing houses are not realy at one with their buyers in the US IMHO. They are deciding not only what the reader can read, but also how an author should write.

I say visit their site and let your feelings be known... you tell them what you want to read.

[Rob B]

This is one of my TOP complaints about US publishers.

The only author US publishers have bit on lately are Paul Kearney.

[Penumbra]

I don't know what all you foreigners are complaining about. It's tough enough for me to get published and I'm stuck right here amidst the dense morass of American entreprenaurial genius, the same brains that make ski slopes out of garbage heaps. Stop whining and write something dramatic.

[James Barclay]

Penumbra, we're talking about books already published and successful elsewhere that the US audience are denied unless they agree to pay high amazon shipping charges. What is it you're talking about?

[JohnH]

Something that most of you seem not to be aware of or are just not taking into consideration is that many US publishers are owned by British concerns. Concerns that include British publishing firms. To fathom the depths of publishin and the heights of idiocy that it embarks upon requires one to look at the problem not as a national one but as something that has no border.

To simply say that the market is not ready for a certain author's work sounds a bit too self-pitying imo. Nothing against Erikson, it may well have been a sop to his feelings by his agent or someone else. But the old saw 'you're too good to succeed' springs to mind. But publishing has never been too rich in common sense, else Harry Potter would not have caught so many by surprise. Nor would the foolish practice continue to flourish of releasing books that are bestsellers on both sides of the Atlantic six months apart or more.

Also you must take into account that publishers (both US and UK) have slashed divisions drastically. And even while we revel in one of the largest fields of fantasy I have seen in over thirty years, imprints have been closed or merged at a horrendous rate. So while many of you in this thread see this as a quality issue based on what you like, I see it more so as a quantity issue. Certain authors no matter how succesful in the US take a back seat to other genres in the list to be published. Only those books deemed to be automatic entries on the bestsellers' list tend to be rushed to print once delivered.

Authors such as Katya Reimann who has enjoyed a small but nice amount of success for her first efforts waits over a year from delivery to get published. So it is not just that someone is too good to be published but there is no room to be published.

As for Erikson, at one point he was listed in Locus as having sold the rights for US publication. So are the publishers waiting till we in the US develop some intelligence to handle this complicated work? Or it is a case where they refuse to buy it at all? In which case it may be an issue of not having enough money to buy the rights just yet. Took years to buy Bradley. And she did not come too dear. Certainly not what she is worth in my opinion.

[Cadfael]

Penumbra, we're talking about books already published and successful elsewhere that the US audience are denied unless they agree to pay high amazon shipping charges.

An example of which is the Megan Lindholme (aka Robin Hobb) books. These books have been available in the UK and Europe for quite a while now, but no plans as yet for a US release. Even though her work published as Robin Hobb has a huge fan base in the US.

Also... I don't write, I do not have anything like the talent to write, but I will not let that stop me from posting comments on this forum http://www.sffworld.com/ubb/biggrin.gif

[The Fortyish Man]

Don't forget that all of Megan Lindholm's books were originally published in the US before they were published in the UK, and that two of her books Luck of the Wheels, and The Gypsy, have never been published in the UK.

I'm annoyed that some of my favourite American writers aren't published in the UK.
Gene Wolfe's Short Sun series hasn't been published here and None of Emma Bull's books have been published here. Other American writers without a UK publisher include Patricia Mckillip, John M Ford, and Severna Park.